06 June 2010

Ever since I made those Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, I knew I had to try a chocolate version. I loved the concept of a non-fried, yeast-leavened donut, and I couldn't wait to play around with new flavors. Just think, a homemade chocolate donut that's light and fluffy, baked not fried, and glazed with chocolate ganache.

Since you won't have to worry about working with quarts of hot oil, this donut recipe is actually quite safe and easy to make. And they're healthy too, these chocolate donuts. Really. Since they're not fried. Right?

Well, maybe the smooth and glossy, chocolatey ganache isn't the healthiest thing ever, but if you want to indulge, this sure is the way to go! Serve up these delectable donuts for dessert with an ice-cold glass of milk, or omit the ganache and enjoy them as a chocolate morning bread. Your tastebuds will rejoice. And so will your friends, when you bring them a tray of these donuts!

Yum.

I used just half a teaspoon of instant espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor of the donuts. Feel free to consider this ingredient optional if you don't happen to have it on hand!

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and let sit for five minutes. If yeast does not bubble up, discard and start again with fresh yeast. Meanwhile, stir the butter into the remaining warm milk to melt it. Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour, and salt.

To the softened yeast, add the dry ingredients, the remaining milk with melted butter, the vanilla extract, and lightly beaten egg and mix together with the paddle attachment to combine. Switch to the dough hook and continue mixing until dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, adding more flour if dough is sticky or more milk if too dry.

Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead a few times (dough should be barely sticky), shape into a ball and place in an oiled boil, turning to coat the dough with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-2 hours.

Punch dough down and roll it out onto a lightly-floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch circles and transfer them to parchment-lined cookie sheets. Then cut out 2 1/4-inch circles from the centers. Loosely cover the donuts with plastic wrap.

At this point, you may either let the donuts rise for 45 minutes and proceed to bake them, or refrigerate them overnight. After refrigeration, let donuts rise 1 hour in a warm place. Bake at 375 F 8-10 minutes, then let cool for about 10 minutes.

While donuts are baking, place the butter and whole milk in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat, whisking constantly to melt butter and prevent the milk from burning. As soon as the milk reaches a boil, remove from heat and add chocolate chips, whisking until chocolate melts and the ganache is smooth and glossy. Let cool slightly.

To glaze the donuts, invert each donut and dip into the chocolate ganache, allowing the excess chocolate to drip off before setting the donuts upright.